


The Fall

by TakaSeokk



Series: Original Work [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Horror, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakaSeokk/pseuds/TakaSeokk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I woke up to a cold, metallic world, injured and with no memory at all. Where am I? What's going on? And what is the source of that eerie clang that's following me?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

I opened my eyes slowly and discovered an enormous throbbing inside my skull. My body was twisted into an awkward position and the surface beneath me was as cold and hard as ice. Once my eyelids opened further, a wave of nausea rushed through me as my pupils took in the blinding light. I weakly lifted a trembling hand to cover my face and breathed in and out through my mouth as I waited for the sickening sensation to pass.

While I waited, my fuzzy senses tried to come together to discern what was happening. I couldn’t remember anything, not even my own name, and the desperation of trying to recall anything made my temples pound even harder than they already were. After my nausea passed and I was able to fully open my eyes beneath the protective shadow of my hand, I slowly began to spread my fingers apart. Harsh, artificial light stabbed into my corneas, but I was determined to discover where I was.

It may have been second or it may have been hours before I was finally able to become adjusted to the painfully white light. I blinked and turned my head to the side, my vision filled with the view of a long, metal-plated hallway that led far into the distance. I gathered my hands beneath me and shakily pushed myself into a sitting position, my head suddenly feeling light as my vision tunneled, and then returned to normal. I breathed deeply and looked down at myself. There weren’t any signs of injury as far as I could tell, but my body still felt frail and beaten.

I reached up a hand and touched a frizzy, tangled mass of hair that fell nearly to my shoulders. It was dark brown. My hair was dark brown. This was such a small and trivial thing about my appearance, but the fact that I had to discover it was terrifying. I wondered how old I was and, after another glance at my body, I could see the small rise of breasts beneath the thin folds of my clothes. So that meant I was a girl at least in her teens, right? What if I was older than that, though?

As much as I wanted to take my time to learn not only more about myself, but also my location, I was startled by a sudden, loud clanking that began to echo down the long hallway. I didn’t know what it was or why it was happening, but I did know that it sent a sense of disturbing familiarity streaking through my mind. I wanted—no I _needed_ —to get as far away from that noise as possible because there seemed to be something inside me that remembered it. Something inside me that had encountered that eerie sound before and was telling me to get the hell out.

It took longer than I would’ve liked before I was able to pull myself up from that frigid floor, using the wall as support for my wobbly legs. Even once I was erect and standing in the midst of that foreboding hallway, I still had to lean up against the firm wall as the entire world suddenly began to spin far too fast. Another rush of nausea cut through my body, but just when I thought it was gone, I doubled over and began the painful process of dry heaving.

While all this was going on, I could hear the ominous clanking drawing ever closer from my right. The prospect of whatever that noise might mean sent bolts of terror through my body, worsening an already uncomfortable sensation of trying to rid myself of stomach contents that didn’t exist. When my nauseous episode was finally over, I shakily straightened myself and wiped the saliva from my chin. I took a few deep breaths and glanced to my right, my heartbeat racing to the rhythm of the noise beyond. I swallowed dryly and turned away, slowly shuffling along the wall and down the opposite direction of this endless nightmare

I wondered if there was anyone else inside this terrifying territory, this hallway of impending horrors. Someone—or some _thing_ —must’ve been here at some point, right? How else would it have been built otherwise? Was there someone who had abandoned me in the spot where I’d woken up, or had I gotten there by myself and passed out?

These and many other sorts of questions flew through my sluggish brain at once, making me want to bend over and try vomiting again. The thought of being the only one in this tunnel with whatever was making that clank and clatter behind me was scary as hell and I began to wish that I’d stayed unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

I wasn’t sure how long I shuffled and stumbled aimlessly down that singularly-directional prison, my eyes unfocused and my left hand’s fingertips bracing against the frozen wall, but I was jolted to reality when I found myself colliding with a wall.  I blinked as my vision came into focus, a gray surface looming in front of me. There was still a solid surface on my left, so I looked to my right to see that the hallway now continued in a different direction.

And the hallway wasn’t the only thing that lay that way.

Several feet after the turn, a lone figure lay prone in the center of the path, clad in similar, thin, gray clothes as my own, and not showing any signs of life. My heart skipped and a small part in the back of my mind was overjoyed to see another human being. An exceptionally loud clang rang down from the abyss behind me and I pushed away from the wall and half fell, half ran over to the still form. My legs were stiff, sore, and unstable, so the loss of my support system sent me down and crawling before I knew it. I scrambled up to the person and flipped them over onto their back.

His face was thin and gaunt and a large bruise covered an entire side. I pressed my ear to his chest and was immediately relieved to hear a faint yet steady rhythm beating from deep within. I sat back and considered what to do next. If he was going to be anything like me, his waking process would take precious time that I just didn’t have. Yet at the same time, I felt like I would’ve really appreciated it if someone had been there when I’d regained consciousness. I bit my lip at the stress of having to make such a heavy decision and I glanced behind me, where the sound was growing steadily nearer.

I swore mentally as I made up my mind and grabbed the man by the shoulders and began to shake him urgently. I slapped his face and pinched his arms and did anything else that I could think of, but it was no use. No matter what I did to arouse him was only met with silence and stillness, except for one time when he emitted a soft moan.

I could feel myself going into hysterics over how stressful and frustrating this situation was, and the clanging was getting to the point where it was the only thing that I could hear. I didn’t want to abandon him to whatever fate sat with that terrible sound, but I also didn’t want to find out what it was for myself. I had no idea what my _pre­_ -amnesia self would have done, but I did know what my _post_ -amnesia one was going to do.

With one final glance behind me, I staggered to my feet and stepped over the unconscious man I was leaving behind. I wondered if my old self would’ve felt upset about doing such a thing, but right now I was too scared and too dazed to find myself able to care all that much. I resumed my fast-paced shuffle along the wall, my head pounding with the metallic ring that filled the tunnel. The mysterious noise had gotten to the point where my ears were feeling sore and I pushed myself through my bodily pain to go faster. Then, just as it seemed like the sound was going to come crashing into me and send me flying, it stopped. No noise, no nothing. Just silence.

I paused and looked over my shoulder, the hallway receding into the distance so far that I could no longer even see the man. The lights overhead flickered and I blinked up at them. There was a soft electric hum coming from them as they flicked on and off, the intervals growing longer until I was plunged into an almost physically heavy inkiness. I let out a gasp and then immediately clapped a hand over my mouth. Deep within the direction of the man, I heard the faint scrape of sharpened metal upon metal. I slowly scooted the opposite way along the wall, every nerve and cell inside my body screeching, _begging_ , for me to get away. Then, there was a brief moment of unbearable silence, and my heart thumped loudly inside my ears. I waited and my eyes instinctively darted around to get a glimpse of the danger, but I couldn’t see anything. Suddenly, there was a piercing, terrified, painful, and most _definitely_ human scream that went on for several terrible seconds before being cut horribly short.

Silence reigned once more. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my heart beating out of my chest and into my throat. There was a faint hum and the lights suddenly came to life, nearly sending me into a heart attack. Then, the clanking resumed as before, except now the beat was much quicker and it made the lights rattle with every thump. With a good enough idea of what had become of that man, I shoved myself away from the wall and broke into a limp-like run.

Maybe if I concentrated on the pain in my body and my new animalistic urge to survive, I could try to push away my nausea and terrible relief.


	3. Chapter 3

It felt like I was going nowhere. The hallway was so long and uniform that it seemed as though I was running in place. The lights above me still rattled to the rapid pace of the metallic clang that was chasing me. With how loud and close it sounded, I would’ve thought that whatever the thing was would be directly on my heels and larger than life, but the one time that I did dare to risk a peek over my shoulder, all I could see was an empty stretch of tunnel.

I was growing very frantic and very desperate; my throat, lungs, legs, heart, and shoulders were all screeching inside me and pleading for me to stop. But I wouldn’t stop. I _couldn’t_ stop. How could I dream of even slowing down when that primal banging was out for my life? I’d heard the final cry of that man I had tried so hard to wake and I was certain beyond anything that I didn’t want the same thing to happen to me.

I hoped that my life before I’d woken up on the cold floor had been a good one because that way I would’ve at least had the chance to experience happiness once. Everything from the first moment I’d opened my eyes had been nothing short of hell, shit, and suffering. Everything oddly felt like it was revolving around me and trying to make me hate living as much as I possibly could. That’s why I wished for a life beforehand that had been somewhat decent. For me, it was better to dream that I’d experienced joy before the whole world was ripped out from under my feet and I was thrown into chaos, rather than think everything had always sucked. The fact that I had the feeling of what happiness and contentment _were_ also helped bring this fantastical reality into something tangible inside my tortured and beaten mind.

Each stomp of my tingling feet into the frozen metal floor sent bolts of lightning into my system. Each labored and hyperventilated breath tossed icy daggers through my organs. Each clang that resonated down the hall frightened me into motivation to push further despite my body being past the point of wanting to give out. The lights overhead flashed madly, the rapid changes in lighting making my head ache and my movements feel tilted. My heart was racing so hard and fast that I thought it would cease working altogether. 

Up ahead, I could see my second encounter with a turn, except this time there was a branch that went left and another that went right. Without much of a thought, I decided to go left, but as soon as I made it around the bend, I finally collapsed. Once again, I was back on the cold and merciless floor, my body just unable to do it anymore. For a moment or so, I lay there with burdened breaths and eyes closed in exhausted defeat. I wondered just how long it would take for my inevitable doom to find me. It couldn’t have been all that far behind me, so it should be any time now.

Strangely though, nothing happened to me. In fact…

I wearily forced my eyelids open and stared at the wall on the other side of the hall. I could no longer hear the clank that had been following me from the very moment I’d woken. It was just as quiet, if not more so, as the last moments before the man had been killed, except that the lights were still on. What did this all mean? Did I somehow manage to escape it? Whatever _it_ was, that is.

Even though my arms were shaking and hardly had any strength to speak of, I pushed myself up and slumped against the wall. I looked to my left, then to my right, but there was nothing but an infinite, empty stretch in both directions. I skimmed a hand nervously over my hair and swallowed dryly. I tried to push myself further into the wall. Even though it felt like I was very much alone, there was still a sentiment of distrust rooted deep inside my stomach. Everything about everything felt very bad and very wrong. Surely it wasn’t so easy to escape and get to safety?

I ran my parched tongue over my cracked lips and got onto my hands and knees, slowly beginning to crawl towards the one place I had yet to check for danger: around the corner and into the hallway I’d come from. The iciness of the floor cut through my impossibly thin pants and quivering hands, making me shiver with more than just fear. The closer and closer I got to the bend, the harder my heartbeat. I found that I was having an incredibly difficult time breathing and I thought that I was about to pass out. Right as I reached the turn, I stopped and was suddenly hit with a strange sense of déjà vu. I blinked and gave my head a shake to dispel the weird feeling from my mind.

I took a deep breath and tentatively looked around the corner, worrying that something was about to jump right into my face. As the view of the hallway tentatively filled my vision, my lungs began to ache from the worried breath held inside me. I poked my head fully around the corner and just about collapsed in relief. The hallway was just as barren as it had always been and there was still no trace of the metallic ring. I sank back against the wall, my eyes swelling with pure, gracious, and joyful tears. I didn’t even know what that noise had meant or what I’d been running from, but I was certainly glad to be rid of it.

I sat there for quite some time and caught my breath, considering what I should do next. The way I saw it, I now had all the time in the world to figure things out; I’d be fine relaxing for a bit to collect my thoughts and my nerves, or so I thought.

Up above, the lights once again began to flicker and fade and a sinking sensation filled my insides. The periods of darkness quickly grew in length and I shook my head fervently, the tears of happiness turning into waves of sadness. Then, without warning, everything was plunged into that impossible blackness and I choked down a scream. Deep within the tunnels, the sound of my nightmares resumed once more.


	4. Chapter 4

I pressed myself harder into the wall, my eyes darting around frantically despite the fact that I couldn’t actually see a thing. The metallic clang was overwhelming now and it seemed to come from every direction and distance imaginable. There was no place of safety or emptiness. My entire body shook with horror, my breathing rapid and shallow as I clenched my teeth, squeezed my eyes shut, and clamped my hands over my ears.

The very air around me was humming with the strange aura of the sound and I feared the unknown of what was to come next. I hunched over and hugged my head between my knees, my stomach lurching and swaying like a chained animal. I gagged just as a burst of cold air rushed through the tunnel. The noise was so loud that it felt like it existed within my very skull and I began to believe that my brain was actually the source of this terrible torture. What if all of this was the creation of my sick and twisted mind?

Suddenly, something cold and hard grabbed me and I couldn’t hold back the scream that tore out of me as I was swept off the floor. I opened my eyes but the world was still in total darkness and prevented me from getting even a glimpse of my attacker. I thrashed wildly, but I was somehow unable to hit the thing that held onto me. I was certain that whatever this was, was the same thing that had been following me the entire time. The same thing that had slaughtered that helpless man from before.

I was utterly horrified. Horrified about everything that was happening to me and everything that had yet to happen to me. And yet…I was also sad. And angry. Very, _very_ angry. Why me? And not just me, but why in general? Why was all of this happening? Was there some sort of unrevealed method to all of this madness? I was tired. I was exhausted. And not just physically, but mentally, spiritually, and morally as well. My soul was broken and weak and wanted nothing more than for all of this to stop.

_Why?_

I thrashed around once more and I struck something cold and solid and metal and definitely not the wall.

_Why?_

I grasped onto the object with my fist so hard that I could feel my dry knuckles split and my palms began to bleed as metallic edges cut into my flesh.

 _Why?!_ _Why?! WHY?!_

My arm muscles strained as I feebly managed to twist myself around and grab onto the thing with my other hand as well. Sharp claws tightened their grip around me and my breath was ripped out of my lungs. I was slammed with a terrible force into the floor and yet another claw clamped around my throat and began to squeeze. I choked and scraped at the force that held my airway shut, my legs twisting around on the ground and kicking into empty space as saliva slid out of my mouth and down my cheeks like tears. If it hadn’t been pitch black, I probably would’ve seen my vision begin to tunnel and fade, but no such thing could be noticed in that abyss.

_Why are you doing this to me?!_

A warm tingling sensation began to spread through my body and I gritted and ground my teeth as I continued to struggle. My limbs and joints filled with a pleasant warmth despite the icy floor and claws that held me down. I figured it was the calm that washed over you before you die. My body was preparing to be killed. I didn’t want it to end this way, though. After everything I’d been through…I still knew nothing about the world or who I was. How could I die?!

I growled from deep within my throat and managed to get a small sip of air into my lungs, the spit still flying from my mouth as I fought for my life.

_Why is everything so fucked up?!_

With one last surge of survival strength, I let out an inhuman roar and the hall was flooded with a blue light. I didn’t know what the light was or where it came from, but all I knew was that the metal beast above me was beginning to disappear. I couldn’t even make out its form, only that it was enormous, dark, and filled the entire space above me with its presence. I didn’t have time to register, let alone process, what was going on, but the dreaded form continued to grow weaker and weaker until it vanished into thin air.

I gasped as the pressure around my throat was released and a fit of coughs raked my body with claws nearly as terrible as the one that had just been pinning me down. I rested for a few minutes on the floor, allowing my heart to slow and my thoughts to detangle themselves. After I was sure that I would be alright, I opened my eyes. The lights above were still out, and yet there was still a strange, blue light that softly lit up the space around me and a bit beyond before melding into the dark. Why was the light sticking around me in particular? It wasn’t like it was—

My mind stopped as I looked down at myself and my jaw dropped in awe. I slowly lifted a heavy hand and watched as tongues of blue fire danced and twirled over my skin. And it wasn’t just my hand. My arms, chest, and entire _body_ was being licked by the mysterious blue fire, but not a single part of me was too warm or burned. I felt like I should’ve been freaking out and afraid, but I felt strangely calm at the sight of the flames. I wanted to voice my interest and wonder aloud, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. Was this fire something that had come from _me_? Was that why I had been filled with that warm tingle? Was this what had defeated the metal beast?

I would’ve sat there forever and watched the beautiful light, but a little ways down the hallway a section of the wall slid away and let in a harsh, white light. I squinted and watched the opening, waiting to see if anything came out. When nothing did, I pulled myself up to my feet and warily began to limp along the wall towards this mysterious new development in my surroundings.

For some reason, when I came to the edge of that ominous, glowing orifice, I didn’t feel frightened or scared, but wary. Was this because I now had the protection of my flames? Whatever the reason, I swallowed and stepped through the doorway, blinking as my eyes watered in response to the light. I lifted a hand to shield my gaze and what I saw when my vision adjusted took me from feeling wary, to feeling just downright confused.

Before me stood a small team of five people all wearing identical white outfits and medical masks that made them blend into the whiteness of the room that I now found myself in. They all held identical metal clipboards and two of them were furiously scratching on papers with identical silver pens. I felt like I stood out obnoxiously with my dark gray clothes that were hardly more than shreds of cloth hanging from my thin frame, and the blue flames that clung to me casted an eerie halo of color around me.

Then, the white figure in the center of the five stepped forward and looked at me with cold, merciless eyes. I instantly knew that these were people that could not be trusted. I cast a quick glance around the room and noticed that there was an entire wall covered in screens, each one displaying a different angle of a very familiar hallway. Had these people been…watching me? Even after all the stuff I’d been going through…they had just stood by and watched? What sort of sick game were they playing??

The white figure cleared their throat and my attention snapped back to the group, a sinking feeling developing within the depths of my hollow stomach. “Project number…” the person checked their notes before looking back at me, “6211, it seems you were finally successful in gaining access to your powers.”

My eyes widened and I took a step back, towards the dark hallway that had taken me so long to get out of. I would’ve kept going further and further until I was back within that abyss and out of sight, but I thumped into a hard surface. The opening had been closed. I was trapped.

I unsuccessfully attempted to swallow and then said, “Finally?” My voice sounded cracked and alien, like it didn’t belong to me. “Are…are you saying that I’ve done this before? Or…that I’ve tried to do this before?”

“Of course,” the figure said in that strangely genderless voice. “All of our patients here go through many trials and tests to see if they were able to pick up any of our treatments.”

“We were actually beginning to wonder if you’d ever show results at all, 6211,” another one of the figures said in a slightly higher-pitched voice. “Which would’ve been disappointing, considering that you’re one of our veterans here.”

My head was spinning. Treatment? Patients? _Veteran_? Where was _here_ , exactly? They were saying all these crazy things as if it was the most casual topic in the universe.

“It seems that your body has responded well to our fire-based treatment,” the first figure continued. “You even have blue flames, an interesting development. Douse them promptly so that we can run some further tests.”

I was starting to feel really faint and I pressed into the wall behind me. “Tests? What kinds of tests?”

“Do not concern yourself with that. Just do as you’re told and douse your flames.”

“Douse them?! I-I don’t even know how I ignited them! Can someone _please_ tell me what’s going on?!”

“6211,” the figure tapped their pen impatiently against their clipboard and fixed me with a glare, “if you display any more signs of rebellion, I will be forced to take action. Do as you’ve been told and silence your ability at once. Your behavior record is bad enough as it is and I’d truly hate to lose any more money because of you, especially since you’ve now become the perfect specimen.”

“Behavior record? What are you talking about?”

“Come on, 6211. You’ve already been through the training of activating and deactivating your abilities. Do use it, won’t you?”

“Use what?!” I was growing frustrated and hysteric and my breathing quickened. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about! I have absolutely no memories of anything besides being inside that infernal tunnel! Please believe me, I swear it’s true!”

“Doctor,” the figure with the higher voice spoke up. “I believe that 6211 has unknowingly repressed all of her memories prior to this recent test. It’s happened to other patients before and she _does_ seem to exhibit all of the symptoms.”

“Doctor,” the other one replied, “everyone, including the patients, in this facility is well aware that repression is a possible side effect. Albeit rare, but still possible. Displaying all the symptoms of amnesiac repression is just the sort of trick that 6211 would pull on us so she would no longer be subjected to testing. This is an obvious ploy and you’re playing right into her filthy hands. The fact that you are so blind to it disgusts me.”

“But—”

“Enough! I will not stand for rebellious behavior from a patient and I will _certainly_ not stand it coming from a colleague! 6211, douse your flames at once or I will have no choice but to shoot.” The figure pulled out a sleek pistol and aimed, the laser sight pointing straight from the muzzle to my forehead.

My heart skipped several beats and I had the sudden desire to throw up. “Please, I don’t know who you think I am or what I’ve done, but I swear I don’t remember anything!! I’m not trying to deceive you, I swear!” The back of my neck broke out into a cold sweat and I began to shake, terrified tears spilling out from my eyes as I pleaded for my life. After everything that had happened, after everything I’d done and escaped from, I was going to be killed by someone who thought I was a liar? There were still so many things that I didn’t understand…

“That’s exactly something that you, an utterly chronic and compulsive liar would say,” the figure told me. “You know the rules, 6211. This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. It’s a shame to lose something as valuable as you.”

I threw out my flame-covered hands, “Wait—!”

There was a bang. Then, there was nothing. It was a nothing even darker and more silent than the abyss of that hallway, but strangely, it was more comforting.


End file.
